


Studies in Modern Romanticism and Interpersonal Relationships

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate episode, Bisexual Britta Perry, Canon Divergent, Elroy isn't around just because I was having trouble balancing this amount of characters, F/F, Fluff, Multi, also a couple j/b friendship moments because I literally can't help myself, diverges sometime before s06e06 Basic Email Security, just everyone asking Frankie out to try and prove her sexuality, lesbian Annie Edison, lesbian Frankie Dart, with a hopefully emotional conclusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: Jeff has an idea to bring their betting pool to an end, but some group members discover that there may be more than a few complications that get in the way.Set a little before s06e06 Basic Email Security and follows an alternate turn of events.
Relationships: Britta Perry & Jeff Winger, Frankie Dart & the Study Group, Frankie Dart/Annie Edison, Frankie Dart/Britta Perry, Frankie Dart/Britta Perry/Annie Edison
Comments: 16
Kudos: 80





	Studies in Modern Romanticism and Interpersonal Relationships

**Author's Note:**

> based on [this](https://paradigmsofbrittaperry.tumblr.com/post/617114048980549632/brittaanniefrankie-much-to-think-about) post and a subsequent conversation I had with lil-annie-adderall on tumblr! it's a bit of a wild concept ik but I hope you all enjoy!

“I have an idea.”

The group all turned to look at Jeff, concern creeping across many of their faces.

“That’s usually not a good thing,” Britta said.

He glared at her for a moment before continuing. “So, we all want to get an answer about Frankie to end the betting pool, right?”

“I suppose. Are you proposing a series of hijinks to determine her sexuality?” Abed asked.

“Not so much a series of hijinks as one hijink,” Jeff replied.

Annie looked down to the table nervously. “I don’t know if that’s a great idea…we’ll find out eventually without intervention, right?” she asked, scrunching her face up in concern.

“If you had any moral obligations to the betting pool, you could have chosen not to take part,” Jeff retorted.

“Wait, what kind of hijink do you want to pull?” Britta interjected, looking pointedly at the head of the table.

He flashed a devilish grin. “We have both males and females in this group, right?” he said.

“If you want me to put on a wig and try to seduce her, I’m all in,” Chang cut in.

The group all turned to the other end of the table to give him various confused and exasperated looks. 

“Why would that be…? You know what, never mind. No, that’s not what I want. What I want is for us to all ask her out,” Jeff explained, laying his hands deliberately on the table.

A silence fell over the table as each of the group members considered his proposition.

“Aren’t there too many variables there? What if she just isn’t attracted to any of us?” Britta questioned.

Annie nodded. “Exactly. Who says she would say yes to any of us regardless of her sexuality?” 

“Well, we as a group are more conventionally attractive than the national average,” Abed observed, looking around the table but purposefully skipping over Chang.

“Yes, thank you!” Jeff said, leaning forward and gesturing towards Abed, “We are the pinnacles of human attractiveness. I’m ruggedly handsome, Abed is downright adorable, Britta is a near perfect 8 with a sour personality, and Annie has become a hot, authoritative babe. We are the perfect group of people to test our different hypotheses with.”

“Wait, what about me?” Chang asked.

“Thank you!” Annie said, a light blush gracing her face.

“Hey! That’s rude,” Britta said, crossing her arms and slumping over in her chair. Abed only winked and finger gunned in Jeff’s direction.

Jeff ignored the different reactions and barrelled forward with explaining his plan. “So we should space it out. One of us asks her out per day for the next four days,” he said.

“How do we decide what order to go in?” Abed asked.

“We could just go based on whoever sees her first. Our question could be answered right away depending on what happens,” Britta suggested.

“Don’t you think that has a high potential for…you know, a miscommunication? And disaster?” Annie asked.

The blonde shrugged. “We can text to keep each other in the loop. Besides, that way, we can also share the outcomes. If someone gets rejected, then the next person can go whenever they see her,” she said. 

“That’s not a bad plan. If there’s two things we like, it’s living life on the edge and getting quick results,” Jeff said, nodding thoughtfully.

Annie huffed. “Abed, you at least have to see all of the things that could go wrong with this plan, right?” she said, looking to her friend and becoming irritated.

“I mean, this is our most entertaining plotline in a while. And no matter what happens, we’ll get an answer to the question at hand,” Abed replied.

The brunette rolled her eyes. “Do you not care about the consequences of our actions?!”

“When have we ever?!” Jeff asked, exasperated.

Annie sighed, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “I can’t stop you all from doing this, can I?”

“Nope. Might as well join the Dark Side,” Britta said.

“That’s your second correctly used reference today!” Abed said excitedly, the pair turning to face each other and performing a handshake involving locking their hands together as if they were about to thumb wrestle, but instead shooting each other with finger guns.

Annie wrinkled her nose, Jeff eyeing her suspiciously. “C’mon, we’ve had so many terrible ideas that have failed miserably over the years, why is this the one you raise a fuss about?” he asked. 

“I don’t know. The risk seems to outweigh the reward. I mean, won’t she get suspicious about all of us asking her out one after the other? And won’t it be awkward to…you know…do the asking out?”

“Wait, is Annie nervous?” Chang asked.

The group averted their collective gaze towards her, causing her to sink into her chair. 

“No, I’m not nervous!”

“You weren’t nervous about asking Rich out a while ago. Nervousness is not a trait you normally exhibit in romantic situations, and especially not fake romantic situations,” Abed observed.

They all looked at her expectantly.

“I…I’m just nervous about the plan, that’s all. But I’m in,” Annie reluctantly agreed, if only to take some scrutiny off of her.

“Great. Remember, whoever sees her first outside of this meeting gets the honors. Text the results to our group chat. Maybe wait a little bit if the first person isn’t successful. Understood?” Jeff said, placing his hand in the middle of the table. One by one, the rest of the group leaned in to pile their hands on top. Chang had to lean so far in that he was practically laying on the table.

“On 3, we say cash money. One…two…”

“Hey guys, what’re you all up to?” a familiar voice asked from the doorway 

“Cash money!” Chang exclaimed, blissfully ignorant of the new arrival.

Frankie raised an eyebrow, but strolled over to assume her seat at the study room table. The rest of the group quickly retracted their hands. 

“So…are you all ready for today’s meeting?” 

“Mhm!” Annie assured, pulling out her decorated binder. The other group members slowly pulled out everything they needed. Jeff, Britta, and Abed shared a conspiratorial smirk as Frankie started presenting the issues of the day, and Annie tried to fight her growing sense of unease.

\---

Naturally, Jeff was the first study group member to find Frankie the next day. He rolled into the school around ten minutes before his first class started, swinging out of his car with coffee in hand. He was on his way to his classroom when he saw a flash of dark hair and grinned in spite of himself.

_“Got eyes on the target. I’m going in,”_ he quickly texted the group chat with him, Abed, Annie, and Britta. 

_“have fun failing! :)”_ Britta sent back in record time. Jeff shook his head and shoved his phone back in his pocket as he prepared to go talk to Frankie. He had his opening line ready to go, but happened to be spotted by her first.

“Jeff! Hi!”

He tried to hide his frustration and quickly scrambled together a new plan. “Hey. What’s up?”

Frankie ran over to him and started strolling by his side. “So, I wanted to get your opinion on this idea I had last night after our meeting. I know you have to get to class, but maybe during your planning period we could…”

Jeff smiled, seeing a golden window of opportunity. He stopped walking and turned to face her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“How about we talk it out over dinner?” he asked in a low voice, giving his best smoulder.

Confusion clouded Frankie’s face and she quickly took a step back. “Um, excuse me?”

Jeff smirked and leaned forward. “You’ve felt it too, right? There’s been something between us since the beginning,” he said, gaze drifting down to her lips.

“There has? I mean…I’m sorry if you’ve misinterpreted some things. But I only wish to seek a professional and platonic relationship with you,” Frankie said diplomatically. She took another half step back from him.

Jeff immediately straightened up and snapped out of his flirtatious mode. “Oh, no problem. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he quickly apologized.

Frankie gave him a quizzical look. “It’s fine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered, but-”

“Don’t worry about it. I get it,” Jeff said, flashing her a quick smile as they resumed walking. 

She still looked equal parts confused and skeptical, but dropped the issue. “Great. Maybe I’ll just present the idea at the meeting today.”

“Yeah. Maybe that’s the best plan.”

\---

“So you think this counts as definitive proof that she isn’t attracted to men at all?” Britta asked incredulously. She was currently working Shirley’s sandwich counter, but business had been slow since the underground 1920’s speakeasy debacle.

Jeff leaned against the counter behind the register, drinking his secret scotch out of a paper cup. “Of course. She’s known me for a couple months now and declined my offer to take her out,” he said.

His friend rolled her eyes. “You act as if your charm is irresistible to all heterosexual women,” she scoffed.

“I mean…isn’t it?” he replied, giving her a cocky and knowing smile.

A light blush grazed Britta’s cheeks. “Well…um, uh…I’m not even heterosexual!” she retorted.

Jeff almost spit out the sip he had just taken. “Wait, what?!”

“Kinda figured it out earlier this year. Hooked up with a few women I met at The Vatican,” Britta explained casually, “I haven’t told anyone yet.”

“That’s cool.”

“Yeah. So in a way, I kind of hope your ridiculous statement is right,” she said with a laugh.

Jeff tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You know…I might like to actually take her on a real date,” she said bashfully.

“Oh ho, I see, I see…” he said suggestively, trying to wiggle his eyebrows.

Britta rolled her eyes and smacked the side of his arm. “Knock it off. Don’t tell the others. I’m not sure if I’m ready for them to know yet,” she said.

“Aw, does this mean I’m your best friend?” Jeff asked, batting his eyelashes and leaning on his hands.

The blonde laughed lightly. “Something like that.”

“You know they would be completely supportive, right?” he said, tone becoming serious again.

“Of course! It’s just a weird thing to talk about because I don’t usually talk about my love life anyway, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it. I won’t say anything to them. But you know…” Jeff started.

Britta glared at him. “What?” she asked unenthusiastically.

“You should start planning your grand declaration of love for Frankie.”

She impulsively shoved him as hard as she could.

“Hey! I’m being serious! You could probably hire a skywriter or something,” Jeff said, laughing and knocking back the rest of his scotch.

Britta sighed. “This is precisely why I don’t tell anyone anything. Ever.”

\---

Unfortunately, Britta wasn’t the next person to run into Frankie. It was Annie, who saw her in the cafeteria and felt her stomach flip. 

_“I’m not ready to do this! I can’t go ask her out. But the group will make fun of me if I don’t…I’m not nervous. Why would I be nervous? I don’t actually like her, I have no reason to be nervous! I-”_

“Hey, Annie! Come eat with me?”

Her train of thought was interrupted by Frankie calling out to her from a few yards away. She had continued walking while thinking and accidentally ended up close to her table by the windows.

“Oh! Um, yeah! Of course,” Annie replied cheerfully. She forced herself to sit down across from the dark-haired woman. 

“How’s your day been?” Frankie asked with a small smile, wanting to have a real conversation with her fellow committee member.

“Oh, you know…the usual. Classes, tests, researching triple homicides…” Annie replied, voice going up a couple of octaves. She noticed herself beginning to sweat.

Frankie nodded. “Of course. I forget that you and Abed are students here sometimes,” she said.

“Mhm. Honestly, I forget sometimes too,” the brunette said with a laugh that had a slightly nervous edge, “How has your day been?”

“The usual,” Frankie said with a sigh, “Jumping from crisis to crisis. Does this school have any slow days?”

“No. Not a single one,” Annie said.

“I know this is the job I signed up for, but I had no idea it was going to be like…this.”

“I don’t think anyone gets what they expect out of Greendale. I came here just to get my undergraduate degree but I’ve gotten…so much more.” 

“What brought you to Greendale, specifically, in the first place? I mean, I know Jeff got disbarred, Britta had enough of almost getting arrested, and Abed…actually, I don’t know about him either…” Frankie mused.

“Oh! Well, um, I don’t really like talking about it much,” Annie said sheepishly.

The other woman reached out to put a hand on her arm. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it. I don’t want to pry. I don’t like it when people go snooping around in my business, either.”

Annie smiled, feeling a small shock of electricity from the touch. She didn’t know why, but something about Frankie made her want to open up. “No, it’s not a problem. I…had a rough senior year. I needed to be valedictorian and get scholarships and…long story short, I developed an addiction that sent me to rehab. I missed college application deadlines and ended up here,” she said, thoughtfully taking a bite of her salad, “In the end, I don’t think it was a bad thing. I wouldn’t have my family without Greendale.”

“So you all are really that important to each other, huh,” Frankie said, processing all of the new information.

“Yeah. I know we can be strange and off-putting and…dysfunctional, but we’ve been through a lot together. We’re a family without any defined roles,” Annie said.

The dark-haired woman nodded. “I guess that’s what I’ve had trouble understanding over my time here. Why you all were so connected to each other and this school,” she said, pausing for a moment, “but I’m truly sorry that you went through all of that. I didn’t have a great time in high school either.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry you didn’t either.”

The two women sat smiling at each other for longer than was usually acceptable, and only stopped when they were interrupted by a chime from Frankie’s phone. 

“Oh, you’re kidding me?! Ugh, sorry Annie, I have a Dean-related emergency to tend to. But we should continue this conversation sometime-”

“How about over dinner? Tonight?” Annie blurted out. She surprised both Frankie and herself with her proposition.

“Oh? I mean, I know we are professional workplace associates, but I would enjoy that, yes,” Frankie spluttered.

The brunette grinned. “Great! Do you want to decide the place after the committee meeting this afternoon?”

“Sure. I’ll see you there, after I deal with whatever this is…” she grumbled somewhat contentiously.

“Good luck!” Annie called as Frankie scooped up her tray and moved swiftly towards the trash can. She stared down at her lunch for a moment once the other woman had exited the cafeteria.

_“Did that really just happen? Did I just do that? Am I…going on a date? With Frankie Dart, no less?”_ she thought. Without meaning to, she found herself gazing out the window and smiling, absentmindedly twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

And so, naturally, she forgot all about texting the group chat to update them on the situation.

\---

Britta stumbled into the main office after peak cafeteria hours to record her earnings for the day. She was feeling dejected, and as though she were letting Shirley down, barely making enough to pay her own salary. She slumped into a chair in the main office to fill out the report when a certain campus coordinator entered the room.

“Oh, hello, Britta,” she said cordially.

“Hey, Frankie. What’s up?”

The dark-haired woman sighed and took a seat next to Britta. “A lot. The Dean somehow spent our entire yearly budget on developing a petting zoo for the campus, so now I have to source all of the refunds,” she said, exasperated, and clearly glad to have found someone to vent to.

Britta set her clipboard to the side and turned her body towards Frankie. “No way.”

She nodded sadly, head resting in her hands. “Yes way. Just when I thought this school’s situation couldn’t get any worse. I’m sure I’ll find a way to fix it because I always do. I’m kind of amazing like that. But this is so stressful!” she said.

“I know you’ll figure it out. We’ve had close to a 1000% decrease in disastrous campus events since you got here. You’re kind of like Greendale’s superhero,” Britta said, patting Frankie on the shoulder. 

The other woman looked up. “You really mean that?”

“Of course I mean it!”

“I was just checking, since, you know, I didn’t get the warmest reception from all you when I first got here,” Frankie explained, dabbing slightly at the corners of her eyes.

Britta cringed. “Yeah. We’ve just become resistant to change over the years. We’d become used to basically running things around here, so having someone to answer to that wasn’t the Dean was scary,” she said.

“Understandable. I guess I would be to if I was in your situation. How you all got to be in that situation is a different conversation entirely…” Frankie mused, “but truly, thank you. You seem to have the biggest heart of anyone in the group.”

“That’s why I’m the anti-Winger,” the blonde replied cheerfully.

“You’re the what?” the other woman asked, confused.

Britta dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “Never mind. Not the point. I'm not doing so hot with running Shirley's Sandwiches. Maybe we aren't the best at running thing."

Frankie rested a hand on her knee. "Hey, running a business with no formal training is hard. If you want me to, I can help you out. Do a bit of more specialized consulting."

"Really!? You would do that?"

"Of course. Anything for Greendale...and my friends," Frankie said, cracking a smile. 

Britta reached over to give the other woman a quick embrace. "Thank you!" You’re so much cooler than you first seemed,” she said earnestly.

"Of course,” she said, returning the embrace and then looking down to check her watch, “I have to go meet with the Dean now to discuss the new spending approval process, but-”

“Would you maybe want to go out? With me? Sometime? To talk things out and get to know each other better,” Britta rushed out.

Frankie stared at her blankly for a moment. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, you don’t have to. I’m sorry, that was kinda out of nowhere, I didn’t mean to-”

At the worst possible moment, Chang burst into the office wearing his denim ‘El Tigre’ jacket with a rose in hand. Britta immediately sensed what he was about to do and frantically mimed for him to stop. Unfortunately, he was as unobservant as ever.

“Francesca Dart, you captured my attention on day one, and since then have captured my heart. I will never know true peace unless you go out with me,” he proclaimed, falling onto his knees in front of her. 

Frankie’s jaw practically hit the floor. “What is going on here?! You’re the fourth person to ask me out today! What’s in the water supply!?” she exclaimed, looking to Britta with utter disbelief. 

“Maybe there was a gas leak in the library? It’s happened before,” the blonde said with a casual shrug.

She turned her attention back to Chang. “No, I will not go out with you. And you two-” she gestured between him and Britta, “are helping me round everyone up in the study room to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on, I promise! This is just one big coincidence-”

“I’m not a child, Ms. Perry. And frankly, I’m offended that you mistook me for such,” the dark-haired woman said coldly.

Britta was shocked by her severity and stood up, ready to comply with her request. “Of course. I’ll text the others.”

Frankie gave a curt nod and started walking towards the exit.

“You weren’t even supposed to be a part of the plan,” Britta grumbled to Chang.

“Well, excuse me! That wasn’t made clear,” he said, throwing the rose down on the ground and storming off to follow the other woman.

Britta sighed and rolled her eyes. _“she knows something’s up. get to library now,”_ she texted, taking a deep sigh as she trudged after Frankie and her former Spanish teacher.

\---

“You guys better not have blown it. I was bringing Don Draper out of retirement for this specific occasion. Now he might never be seen again,” Abed said.

Annie gave a small gasp, causing Jeff to roll his eyes. “I’m sure whatever happened can’t be that bad. I mean, she couldn’t have figured it out, right? No one but me had asked her out,” he said.

At that exact moment, Annie realized she had messed up. “Well…that’s not entirely true.”

Both Jeff and Abed turned to look at her with varying levels of disbelief. 

“What do you mean, Annie?” Jeff asked through gritted teeth.

“I sort of ate lunch with her and asked if we could continue the conversation over dinner and kind of sort of forgot to tell you guys,” she admitted.

Puzzle pieces clicked together in Jeff’s head. “And Britta texted, which means she probably asked her out too…”

“Have we seen Chang in a while either?” Abed asked.

The trio stared at each other for a moment. 

“This is all your fault! We agreed to keep each other updated!” Jeff roared.

“Well, I’m sorry, I told you all that would be a terrible idea! I proposed setting specific days so that she wouldn’t get suspicious!” Annie retorted, getting up in his face.

“Oh, yeah? But you still agreed to take part in this!”

“You all pressured me into agreeing to take part in this, just like in the first place with the betting pool!”

“I want to be a part of this!” Abed interjected.

“Oh, boohoo! You can’t use peer pressure as an excuse for the rest of your life! Sometimes, you have to have the conviction to make your own decisions or face the consequences of group action!” Jeff yelled.

“Will you all PLEASE just calm down for a second?!” Frankie boomed over the argumentative din.

They all stopped and turned around to face a fuming Frankie, sheepish Britta, and clearly confused Chang standing in the entrance to the study room. Straightening themselves out, they hopped into an orderly line.

“Listen, I’m just here to figure out what’s going on. First, Jeff asks me to dinner completely unprompted. It seemed strange, but not entirely unprecedented. Then, Annie and I have a nice conversation over lunch and she asks to continue it over dinner. That didn’t seem odd on it’s own, but I also wasn’t thinking about what happened earlier in the day. Then, Britta and I have what I think is a nice moment, but then she also asks me out. I started getting a bit suspicious at that point, but then Chang busts down the doors and proclaims his love for me right after that. I don’t know if this is your idea of a practical joke, but I demand an explanation!” Frankie said, “And by the way, you should know by now that I don’t appreciate workplace practical jokes,” she added.

“That’s…”

“Exactly what it was! Just a little practical joke. Clearly, we missed the mark, and we’re sorry,” Britta started and Jeff completed. Everyone except Annie gave a broad, reassuring smile.

The room stayed silent for a moment, the group praying that Frankie would buy the excuse.

“I’m sorry, but no! That’s not it,” Annie burst out, taking a step forward, “We’ve had this…betting pool on whether you prefer men or women or both. Jeff came up with the idea of all of us asking you out in order to get an answer,” she explained, gesturing behind her to her friend.

Britta and Jeff exchanged a fearful look, trying desperately to come up with a way to spin the situation.

“Well, you see-”

“Enough,” Frankie cut him off without breaking eye contact with Annie, “Thank you for telling me the truth. I see you’re better than the rest of your friends,” she said spitefully, looking around to everyone else.

“We’re sorry. If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you, we’ll do it,” Britta offered quickly.

“I think it would be best if I took some time to process this news. Feel free to continue with the meeting as usual. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Frankie said coldly, turning on her heels and marching out of the study room, leaving the rest of the committee to stare at each other in remorseful and uncomfortable silence.

\---

The group had decided to not have their meeting that evening, electing to go home in silent shame instead. Jeff stewed, Britta stress-knit a cat sweater, Annie and Abed ate twice their usual amount of buttered noodles, and Chang tried to comprehend what was even going on. They didn’t discuss what had happened with one another until the next day at 4 pm when they assembled for their daily meeting.

“So…” Jeff broke the ice once everyone except for Frankie was in their places at the table. 

“We fucked up,” Britta said simply.

The group nodded in agreement. 

“What should we do? I don’t know if there’s an easy way to make this up to her,” Annie said.

“We wait for a rainy day and stage an apology outside. We’ll be more sympathetic if we’re soaking wet,” Abed suggested.

“What would we do in the meantime, hide from her?” the brunette asked, irritated.

Her roommate nodded. “Precisely. It could be a fun continuation of this storyline,” he said.

“I still don’t quite understand what went wrong here. Didn’t we want her to know that we were all asking her out?” Chang asked.

Jeff glared at him from across the table. “What does that even mean? Besides, we probably would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you,” he said contemptuously. 

“Hey, don’t place the blame entirely on Chang! Blame Annie,” Britta said.

Annie gave a hurt gasp.

“Hm, I guess you’re right. We would have had our simple answer without her even having to know if you had just texted us that she said yes to dinner,” Jeff said, glaring at her.

The argument was cut off by Frankie entering the room. She casually strolled in and assumed her designated seat.

“Hello. I hope you’re all ready to get down to business. Did I miss anything at yesterday’s meeting?” she said cordially.

“Didn’t have one,” Jeff said, unable to look her in the eye.

“Oh. I see. Well, I have an idea for a fundraiser that I want to run by you all. Picture this: the parking lot full of food trucks from this area,” she started excitedly

The rest of the committee exchanged a series of guilty looks with one another, unsure of how to handle the current situation. They all naturally drifted their gazes to the head of the table. Jeff sighed, recognizing that as usual, he would have to clean up the mess that he totally didn’t create. Even if that mess was the result of executing a terrible idea that he had.

“Look, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think there’s some things that need to be said,” he started.

Frankie stopped talking and looked to him, slightly bewildered.

“Oh?”

“We all feel so incredibly shitty about what happened yesterday. We didn’t intend for you to find out about the betting pool. And that doesn’t excuse our actions there, but you know what? We-”

Frankie held up a hand to stop him. “Alright, I’m gonna stop you right there. I don’t need one of your…what do you guys call them? Winger speeches?” she said.

A chorus of ‘yup’s and ‘mhm’s rose up from the table.

“Great. So, here’s the thing. I’m sure you all aren’t actually sorry. You don’t understand why there is anything wrong with developing a game around guessing a superior’s sexuality and messing with her feelings in the process,” she said, looking pointedly at Annie, “I would prefer no apology to a fake, halfhearted one.”

Annie looked down, some kind of genuine sadness crossing her face.

“Excuse me, but that’s entirely untrue! I am actually sorry,” Britta said indignantly.

“Me too,” Annie said quietly.

“Me too. Though it should be noted, I wasn’t really a part of this. Britta and Chang made sure of that,” Abed said sardonically. Britta flashed him a hurt look.

Jeff and Chang stayed notably silent, waiting to see how things would play out.

“So you understand why this was completely inappropriate, every single step of the way?” Frankie asked.

“Yeah. I went home and as I was knitting Walter a sweater, I realized that if I found out that my friends had a betting pool on my sexuality, I wouldn’t think that was cool. I regretted encouraging it after thinking about that,” Britta offered.

“Wait, does that mean you’re…?” Chang asked, genuinely curious. He only got a withering glare in response.

Frankie’s face softened. “Thank you Britta, I accept your apology.”

Annie was about to offer her own explanation, but was cut off by Jeff. “Do we all have to go around the table and give our heartfelt argument for why you should forgive us?” he asked.

“That’s generally how apologies work, yes,” Frankie said.

“Not in this group they don’t,” Abed said.

“Well then, how do they work?”

“Usually we just realize that whatever we were arguing about isn’t worth ruining our friendship and hug it out instead of talking about it any more,” he replied.

Frankie looked around the table in disbelief. “What is _wrong_ with you people?”

“First of all, you people, really?” Britta asked snarkily, “And second of all, sweeping our issues under the rug is the only way this group can stay together. We learned that in our sophomore year when we found a bunch of things that a monkey named after Annie’s boobs stole from us,” she said.

“What was the monkey named?” Frankie asked.

“Annie’s Boobs.”

“That’s not the point!” Annie interjected, shooting Britta an angry look, “We know that we have a…slightly unorthodox way of doing things. Like friendship. And apologies. And speculating on our friends’ personal lives. But some things flat out cross a line, which is what we did when we formed the pool and tried to end it,” she said.

Jeff looked at her appreciatively. “Exactly. That’s basically what I was going to say earlier.”

“For the record, both the betting and yesterday’s plan were Jeff’s idea,” Abed said.

Frankie stared down the table, fiery gaze locking on the man in question. “I see.”

“Look, I actually am sorry. We don’t need a real answer from you. We’ll redistribute the money and put an end to the whole thing,” Jeff insisted.

“I was just sitting here,” Chang added.

Frankie took a deep breath. “Thank you, Ben, for that addition. I understand that as a group, you’ve been through a lot. Which I guess is why I’ve had such a hard time understanding why you treat each other so terribly,” she began.

“Ouch,” Jeff said simply.

“In a weird sort of way, I guess you all doing this is my way of becoming a part of the group. It doesn’t excuse your behavior, and I’m grateful for your apologies if you feel inclined to give them, but as long you understand that what you did was wrong, I’m willing to move forward in both our workplace relationship and our personal relationships,” she concluded.

Annie nodded vigorously. “We do. And we’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” Britta repeated.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I couldn’t rein them in,” Chang said, attempting to joke with Frankie by playfully hitting her on the arm. She gave him only a tight lipped smile in response.

“I’m sorry. Truly. I should know better at this point in my life,” Jeff said solemnly.

Frankie looked around the table, taking in everyone’s smiling and apologetic visage. “So…what happens now?” she asked.

“Usually, this is the part where we hug,” Abed said.

The campus coordinator smiled and stood up, pushing her chair back. “Then come here,” she said, holding her arms out.

Annie squealed as she shot up out of her seat, Britta smiled and made her way over, with Abed following close behind. Chang leaned over without standing up and wrapped his arms around Frankie’s torso. The other three nestled themselves around her, becoming a tangle of arms and heads on shoulders.

Frankie noticed Jeff sitting silently at the head of the table, observing all of his friends. She smiled softly and tilted her head towards him, inviting him to join them. Begrudgingly, he shook his head and stood up to walk across the room and drape himself over all of his friends. Britta noticed his presence and turned to give him a broad smile. They all stood holding each other for a moment, eyes drifting shut, soaking up the physical presence of one another. 

Eventually, they all drifted back to their seats and continued the rest of the meeting as usual. Frankie took note of Annie’s wistful, longing looks and Britta’s slightly dazed smile that was directed towards her. She decided not to address either one, but filed the information away for later.

The meeting wrapped up, Frankie taking a moment to pack up her files. She noticed Jeff and Britta share a lingering goodbye hug where she murmured something into his ear. Annie stood up and gathered her things, but didn’t move from the table. 

“Annie, are you ready to go?” Abed asked, finger gunning towards her.

“Just a minute. I’ll be right outside,” she said in a high pitched voice. Abed nodded slowly, understanding that something was up, but strolled out of the study room anyway. Chang and Jeff followed, leaving Annie and Britta lingering around the table.

“Oh, are you heading out?” Britta asked the brunette passive-aggressively.

“Eventually. Are you heading out?” Annie replied, innocently looking down.

Frankie looked over to the pair and squinted, confused by the two women practically circling around each other. “Do you need anything?”

Both of them turned to look at the other woman, instantly blushing.

“Um, well…I had something I wanted to talk to you about,” Annie said in a voice several octaves higher than usual.

“I have something to talk to you about too,” Britta said competitively.

“Well, you can both talk to me right now. Everyone else is gone,” Frankie offered. She walked over to be closer to the others, both of them bristling slightly.

“I would prefer to have a conversation in private-”

“I like you. Like, for realsies. I want to take you on a real date, if you want to go on a real date with me after all of this. Or at all,” Britta blurted out.

Annie gave a shocked gasp. “I like her too!” she exclaimed.

Britta turned to face her friend. “Excuse me?”

Frankie’s jaw nearly hit the floor as she watched the two women bicker.

“I liked her first!”

“How do you know that?”

“I realized it right after Jeff asked her out!”

“Oh yeah, well guess what? I asked her out first!”

“Are you saying that you get dibs on a woman? What a gross misogynistic attitude to have, Annie.”

“If I may interject…” Frankie said, stopping the argument.

They both turned to face the dark-haired woman.

“Sorry. This isn’t the first time we’ve had the same taste in romantic interest,” Britta explained sheepishly.

“Or the second…” Annie added.

“I see. Well, um, if I’m being honest, I would like to go on a date with both of you in order to get to know you better. I find you both very attractive and think you’re both great women, bar the events of yesterday,” Frankie said. Annie and Britta looked down in shame. 

“However, I don’t want to make this a competition of any kind or encourage your competitive spirits. If you both want to, I would be glad to go on a date all together,” she proposed.

The committee members looked at each other and exchanged a gentle smile. 

“I’ve never had experience with that kind of thing, but I’m down,” Britta said.

“Same here. I’d like to spend time with both of you. Whether it leads to something more or not doesn’t matter,” Annie said.

“Oh, well in that case…” Britta cut in jokingly. Annie shoved her shoulder into Britta’s side, but laughed along with her.

“This better not be a play just to get a direct answer,” Frankie said sternly.

“Promise, it’s not. Jeff was holding onto the pool money and he already Venmo-ed it all back to us,” Britta assured, holding up her phone to show off the notification.

“Alright, good. Should we plan something for this weekend?” 

“I’m free on Saturday,” Annie said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

“Ooo, I think the carnival is coming back through town!” Britta said excitedly.

“We better not have another Blade debacle,” the brunette grumbled.

Frankie cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Blade debacle?”

“Long story short, I have shit taste in men. Hopefully my taste in women is a little better,” Britta said with a laugh, gazing between the other two women.

“Wait…are we like, dating each other too?” Annie asked unsurely, “I’m not opposed, I just want to know what’s going on,” she clarified.

Britta shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ll see what happens,” she said, offering a bent elbow to her, “Milady.”

Annie twisted her face up in an expression that was part amusement, part seething anger, but took the arm offered to her. “Milady,” she replied, then turned around to offer her free arm to Frankie.

The dark-haired woman chuckled at the strange ritual, but eagerly walked up to join the pair. “Milady.”

And with that, the trio exited the library, excitedly babbling and brainstorming possibilities. 

“Wait, guys? I’m Abed’s ride home, but I don’t see him anywhere,” Annie said suddenly.

“Check your phone,” Britta said with a laugh.

_“I knew you guys would have some kind of heartfelt conversation and come to realize your feelings for one another, but also knew that it might take a while. The rest of us are at the Red Door if you want to join us,”_ he had texted their group chat.

“I guess I know where we’re going,” Britta said enthusiastically.

“Are nights out with all of you as…different…as everything else you do?” Frankie asked worriedly.

“Only if getting trashed to the point where we end up making Jeff drive us all home and having a great time playing too many rounds of darts and pool is different,” the blonde said.

Frankie breathed out an imperceptible sigh of relief. “Wonderful. I mean, you guys are great. But I could deal with a break from surprises,” she said quickly.

“Couldn’t we all,” Annie mumbled.

With that, the trio decided to pile into Frankie’s car and drive over to the bar. She adjusted her rearview mirror so that she could see into the backseat where Annie and Britta were having an animated conversation about the time they had tried to go to the Red Door for Troy’s birthday- what was so special about that guy anyway?- and Frankie felt more content than she had in ages.

_“They sure do pull a lot of crap,”_ she thought, _“but I must be incredibly lucky.”_

**Author's Note:**

> as always, please leave any comments/opinions/critique/etc. in the comments down below! I might write a few more little fluffy things in this ot3 universe I accidentally created, but I'm not pushing myself to write too much right now since I have AP exams coming up very soon. I'll be back with more frequent content again after those end, but I'm also trying to be better about not pushing myself too much. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you're doing well!


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